Queenie and today

Dear Margot,
Today is the last monday of term 1. I had alot of fun in school and throughly enjoyed myself. It seems to be more relaxed now that tests are more or less over for the term. However, I have a chinese test and a physics test on thurday and wednesday respectively. Having tests is ok because I seem to be doing ok in them except for a few like additional math and chemistry.

Since today I have nothing else to blog about, I shall recount and blog about the biggest queenfish I caught in Darwin last november. Graeme who was the fishing guide for the first day of fishing in Dawin. He collected Kong and I from the hotel (Holiday Inn, Darwin) at about 830 in the morning and in less than 10 minutes after leaving the hotel, we were at teh boat launch ramp for Graeme to launch his boat. I was given the honours of holding the boat in position while Graeme went to park his 4 wheel drive.

We motored out of Darwin harbour which was pristine unlike harbours in Singapore. I could actually see the sea bed and where the launching ramp ended. After we got about 300 meters or so away from the boat launch ramp, Graeme began to rig up his own 9weight fly rod and I rigged up mine. He rigged up his rod for me to use just in case mine broke or a calamity happened to my gear. His rod which is an Innovator Matrix had a much slower and forgiving action than my Orvis which had an fast action for casters with shorter strokes.

Well, I started off with Graeme's rod because I had not warmed up yet and thought a slower rod would suit me better before I had warmed up. After a few casts, I saw this queenfish chasing the fly i had cast out. It grabbed my white clouser minnow which I had tied and went on a jumping spree much like a hooked wahoo. I wondered if it took more line in the air or if it was swimming. Unfortunately, My joy of hooking my first Queenfish on fly as soon dashed when it threw the hook after its jumping routine.

We motored to another area which was very rocky and the water was very clear and blue in colour. Again, I picked up Graeme's rod and made my cast which was about 80 feet. ON the retrieve, I saw this silver flash as quick as lightning charge up behind my fly and grab it. I felt the line tighten and instinctively, I yanked hard on the fly line and lifted the rod to set the hook. again this fish unpredictably jumped all over the place. Fly line on the boat deck sped out through my hand as the fish tried to make a run but did not seem to be trying very hard and seemed to like jumping. Finally it got its act together and went on a rampage which bent the rod to the butt and took some backing. I wrestled with the fish and after about 5 minutes, it came to the boatside and still found energy to jump. This tarpon changed my impression of tarpons because the ones I had caught were all very easy to land but this one was not. Finally it was netted and weighed 3kilograms acording to Graeme's lip grip. Coincedentaly, it was the biggest tarpon I had ever caught. I was all smiles as I posed for a picture with the beautiful fish.

I still had not got my queen fish and wanted to test my new rod which is the Orvis so I picked it up and made my cast. It shot line like a rocket and even though it was hard to achieve maximum loading of the rod, it still fired off a 90 foot cast excluding the leader. This time, I did not see any flash but the line tightened after a few strips of line. Knowing it was something big, I set the hook and the fish took off on a long run. I desperately increased the drag on my reel in an attempt to slow the fish down. Backing spewed from the spool as the fish ran. Finally its initial dash slowed and I pumped the fish towards the boat. When I though I was winning, the fish freaked out and tail walked and jumped around wildly. Its soon fell back into the blue depths and made another run. Thankfully, it was shorter and I did not have to worry about my reel being stripped. The battle soon began to be a see saw with the fish coming into view a few times. I was tired and so was the fish. I thought it was another tarpon but when it came to the boat some 45 minutes after being hooked, I was jovial to find that it was a queenfish. and a giagantic one too. It was more than a meter long and it sparkled in the water as i held it as Graeme was removing the hook. I wanted a photo with it but it was exhausted from the battle and I wanted it to live so we faced it in the current to revive it and soon, its colours came back and it swam away. I was happy to see the majestic creature swim away after I let go of its mouth. It seemed to be at peace. Neither similes nor words could not describe the joy I felt as I watched it swim away.

That is the story of my first and biggest queen fish I have caught on a fly rod to date. I will always remember that fish and hope it is still alive for me to catch another day. Good night.

Yours,
An Ren